MHADA housing lottery - Konkan board: Diwali cheer in Mumbai, many get homes in Thane, Virar, Kalyan, more

MHADA housing lottery - Konkan board: This year's festival of light, Diwali, will bring happiness in the lives of many people as the Konkan Board lottery recently decided to announce the Mumbai Board’s lottery for as many as 1,001 homes, said a DNA report, adding that of this, 500 houses will be reserved for the Lower Income Group, while 283 will be given to people of Economically Weaker Section (EWS). 
 
Maharashtra's housing minister Prakash Mehta, who attended the MHADA lottery event, reportedly said that the lottery for Mumbai Board will take place in October-November. 
 
Last year, there were a total of 819 houses, MHADA had 338 houses on offer for the HIG group; this year there are two, which have been identified are reportedly located in Pantnagar in Ghatkopar.
 
According to the report, MHADA has four broad categories based on monthly income — Economically Weaker Section (those earning less than Rs 25,000/month); Lower Income Group (those earning between Rs 25,001 and Rs 50,000); Middle Income Group (earnings between Rs 50,001 and Rs 75,000); and HIG (those earning above Rs 75,000 a month), to address the housing needs of different sections of society. 
 
The total number of houses in the LIG segment has gone up to 500 this year from 168 of the previous year, said the report, adding that these are located in Mankhurd, Mulund, Sion, Goregaon, Vikhroli and Pantnagar.
 
However, total number of houses identified for the EWS have reportedly gone up to 283 from eight in the previous year, said the the report, adding that these are located in areas like Antop Hill in Wadala.
 
Notably, the lottery for 9,018 homes was held by MHADA’s Konkan board on Saturday, there were a total of 56,000 applications received by the board. The lottery included areas like Thane, Virar, Kalyan, Ambernath, Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri. It was reportedly the biggest housing lottery by the housing authority but over 10 per cent of the houses haven’t found any takers. 
 
The lottery led to realisation of dreams for many. One such beneficiary was Pramila Davane, a divyang (mute and deaf), who won the lottery in her first attempt. When people asked her how she felt, she took a pen and paper and drew a sketch of buildings and herself where she looked happy.
 
Like Davane, Sanjay Dagale, who is a vegetable seller at Titwala, and stayed on rent, now owns a house thanks to the lottery. He told DNA,  “I belong from Ahmednagar. I sell vegetables here, I cannot even explain how happy I am after winning the lottery. Life is going to be better soon,” after winning the home in Kalyan under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.
 
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Meanwhile, the first home under PMAY went to a woman named Kalpita Mahadik, who currently resides in Jogeshwari. Her husband had earlier tried his luck but it did not work. Mahadik, however, has a MHADA home for herself now.